The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-05-11
should Judges Grant Licenses.

! our most widely read and respected journals,
urge that the pending high license bill be
amended 10 vest in the Judges fthe Courts the
| granting of liquor licenses, it is only natural
that onr senators and representatives should
/ take cause 10 consider well the arguments
thus presented Botli of onr contemporaries
referred 10 have been among the most earn
est and consistent advocates Of high license
law. and their admitted sincerity in seeking
to reaci, the best and most practical reform
license system gives additional weight to
their views
The 1f,aes has most carefully noted for
some years the effect of discretionary Judi
cial power in granting or refusing appiica-
tions for license, and each year has strength
ened the conviction that ii is perilous alike
TO the administration of justice and To the
proper enforcement of a Wise license system,
10 lodge such power with the Judges. We
have tried that theory for many years, and
il has bred large measure of contempt for
both law and Courts. To confer such au-
thority on the Courts must imply some
measure of discretion in granting or refusing
licenses Ifthe provisions of the law clearly
! define the qualifications of applicants there
is nothing left for Judges to decide, and why
lodge an apparent power in the Courts that
lacks the attributes of practical authority !?
As the law confers discretionary power upon
the tribunal that is TO grant or refuse licences,
the Judges are the last officials who
i l. e Il
cretion.
The present license law confers upon the
courts outside of this city, the power 10 grant
or refuse licenses TO certain presumed limita-
tions, and how have the Judges exercised
that power? Hardly any two of them have
construed their Judicial discretion alike;
and judicial interpretations of the law range
from absolute prohibition to practically free
license And the reasons for such startling
variations in the exercise of judicial duties
under the same law, are entirely logical.
Judges are elected by the people they are
neither more nor less than human and they
practically interpret the law on the princi
pile o what may be delicately called popular
of a county or community is strongly against
license the license law becomes prohibito-
ry statute when the dominant sentiment is
for hotels and saloons and plenty of them the
same law becomes substantiallya free license
statute, and when counties or communities
wrangle over license in nearly equal numbers
and quite equal bitterness the Judges become
diplomatic--or polite would probably be
better-and the law is balanced 10 give about
equal victories and defeats to the disputants.
An elective Judiciary should be most scru-
pulously protected against the perils of judi
cial discretion which must offend popular
prejudices. The license question has al
ready turned the scale in fully half dozen
judicial contests before the people, and with
the growing agitation of the issue and the
certain increase of intensity on both sides
alike in conviction and effort, the continu-
ance OF judicial discretion in granting and
refusing licenses would be grave peril to
every conscientious Judge in the State Our
Judges are CHARGED with the administration
of justice between man and man, and in or
der to command public trust in the faithful
discharge of that great duty, they should be
absolutely separated from all outside issues
which drag the judicial ermine into the
slums of politics. There was recently no
table instance of a defeat for a denomination
of one of the most able and upright Judges
in the State, solely because the saloons were
organized against him. True the people re-
volted and defeated the candidate who won
a nomination by an appeal to those interest
ed in the most latitudinous Interpretation of
the license law but were not the dignity.
the usefulness and the safety of the admins
trstion of justice grayely imperiled by such
an issue2
The fundamental theory of high license
system is that il will regulate the number of
licenses itself by the increased cost of license,
and that it so clearly defies the qualifications
of applicants and the conditions on which
license shall be granted that there is really
nothing left to the judicial office but the en-
forcement of the las by the judicial punish
ment of its violation. If communities or
counties shall have any method of prevent
ing license in their limits, il should be some
more distinct method than the discretion of
a Judge after he is thumped from post 10 pill !
lar by bitterly disputing citizens and there
by organized supporting and opposing par
ties to assert themselves as factors in the Sc
lection of his successor Whether viewed |
from the standpoint of long past experience
or from the obvious logic of Judicial policy, /
we regard thearlumentas conclusive against |
judicial discretion in the granting of licenses.
- -Plilddeipkid Times.